It's been a momentous few weeks for Emmylou Harris, to say the least. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in a ceremony held on April 27 at the organization's Ford Theater, at which musicians including Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Guy Clark, Sam Bush, and Vince Gill all paid tribute to the singer-songwriter.
Griffin and Miller's performance of "Love Hurts," Emmylou's unforgettable duet with Gram Parsons, was followed by Williams's emotional take on "Boulder to Birmingham," and Clark's rendition of "Bang the Drum Slowly," which he co-wrote with Harris for her Grammy-winning Nonesuch debut, Red Dirt Girl (2000), in memory of her father. Listen to the album version of "Bang the Drum Slowly" here:
In accepting the honor, Emmylou credited Johnny Cash's 1964 album Bitter Tears (Ballads of the American Indian) with opening her eyes to the power of folk and country music to address social concerns.
For complete coverage of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, visit countrymusichalloffame.com.
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In that vein, Emmylou hosted a special event in Nashville, Tennessee, last month in support of the Natural Resources Defense Council's efforts to educate that city's creative community about alternative energy sources to mountaintop coal mining.
The NRDC "Eco Salon" featured a keynote address by Robert Kennedy, Jr., who heads the Waterkeeper Alliance, and was sponsored by Gibson Foundation, the philanthropic division of Gibson Guitar. NRDC and Gibson were joined by Emmylou's manager, Ken Levitan, and Warner executives John Esposito and Bill Bennett in organizing the event to bring awareness to the substantial environmental impact of mountaintop coal-derived energy, of which Nashville is the sixth-largest consumer.
"We look forward to working with Emmylou Harris and the Gibson Foundation to raise awareness and to put an end to this devastating practice," said NRDC's president, Frances Beinecke. "One of the most important investments our country can make today is to purchase clean, renewable energy."
For more information, visit gibson.com or nrdc.org.
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Capping the eventful month, Emmylou was awarded the Sound & Vision Award at the inaugural Spring Gala benefitting WFUV, Fordham University's listener-supported public radio station. The event, held April 29 at Sotheby’s in New York City, raised $700,000 for the station's programming efforts.
Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme presented the award to Emmylou, who then performed an intimate six-song acoustic set, including a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine," that drew a standing ovation from the 400 guests, including Les Paul, Joan Osborne, and Phoebe Snow. Emmylou is pictured, at right, with WFUV's music director, Rita Houston.
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This month will bring further undoubtedly rewarding engagements, with Emmylou performing May 14 at the 20th-annual Lifesavers Dinner to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, hosted by Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis. For more information, visit AFSP.org.
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The following month, on June 10, Nonesuch Records is proud to release Emmylou Harris's latest album, All I Intended to Be. You'll be able to pre-order the album from the Nonesuch Store on May 20.
Click here to add Emmylou Harris's Red Dirt Girl CD directly to your Shopping Cart for $16, along with the album MP3s at no additional cost. For Emmylou's complete Nonesuch catalog, click here.
